Author: Sarah C. Blaffer
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292769849
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215
Book Description
The subject of this work is anomalies—those things that are between one state and another, neither dead nor alive, neither animal nor human. In this instance, they are the "spooks" (espantos) that inhabit the Maya area: the charcoal-cruncher, a disembodied head that goes off into the night to eat charcoal; the characotels, men who have turned into animals in order to steal chickens; and others. The victims chosen by spooks are likewise between two states: they are caught while asleep or drunk; or they may be humans who ignore social conventions and behave in "un-human" manner. The Black-man of Zinacantan focuses on a small, super-sexed demon who possesses a six-foot-long, death-dealing penis and a penchant for mischief-making. This demon is known in Highland Chiapas as h'ik'al, the Black-man. Although h'ik'al's prototype may have been the bat deity, an ancient Maya god of sacrifice, the demon has been adapted to contemporary life. Sarah Blaffer analyzes the position of anomalies in societies and shows h'ik'al as a norm-offending, yet norm-reinforcing, specter, who by his character and actions demonstrates the proper sex roles for Zinacantec men and women. The data for the study was recorded in Zinacantan, a Tzotzil-speaking Maya community, and in other Maya towns in southern Mexico and Guatemala; the study includes an analysis of tales recorded and translated by Robert M. Laughlin. The drawings that decorate the text were adapted by Virginia Savage and Joseph Barbieri. Besides being a comprehensive treatment of Maya demonology, the book demonstrates the newer approaches in comparative mythology of Claude Lévi-Strauss and others.
The Black-Man of Zinacantan
Author: Sarah C. Blaffer
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292769849
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215
Book Description
The subject of this work is anomalies—those things that are between one state and another, neither dead nor alive, neither animal nor human. In this instance, they are the "spooks" (espantos) that inhabit the Maya area: the charcoal-cruncher, a disembodied head that goes off into the night to eat charcoal; the characotels, men who have turned into animals in order to steal chickens; and others. The victims chosen by spooks are likewise between two states: they are caught while asleep or drunk; or they may be humans who ignore social conventions and behave in "un-human" manner. The Black-man of Zinacantan focuses on a small, super-sexed demon who possesses a six-foot-long, death-dealing penis and a penchant for mischief-making. This demon is known in Highland Chiapas as h'ik'al, the Black-man. Although h'ik'al's prototype may have been the bat deity, an ancient Maya god of sacrifice, the demon has been adapted to contemporary life. Sarah Blaffer analyzes the position of anomalies in societies and shows h'ik'al as a norm-offending, yet norm-reinforcing, specter, who by his character and actions demonstrates the proper sex roles for Zinacantec men and women. The data for the study was recorded in Zinacantan, a Tzotzil-speaking Maya community, and in other Maya towns in southern Mexico and Guatemala; the study includes an analysis of tales recorded and translated by Robert M. Laughlin. The drawings that decorate the text were adapted by Virginia Savage and Joseph Barbieri. Besides being a comprehensive treatment of Maya demonology, the book demonstrates the newer approaches in comparative mythology of Claude Lévi-Strauss and others.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292769849
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215
Book Description
The subject of this work is anomalies—those things that are between one state and another, neither dead nor alive, neither animal nor human. In this instance, they are the "spooks" (espantos) that inhabit the Maya area: the charcoal-cruncher, a disembodied head that goes off into the night to eat charcoal; the characotels, men who have turned into animals in order to steal chickens; and others. The victims chosen by spooks are likewise between two states: they are caught while asleep or drunk; or they may be humans who ignore social conventions and behave in "un-human" manner. The Black-man of Zinacantan focuses on a small, super-sexed demon who possesses a six-foot-long, death-dealing penis and a penchant for mischief-making. This demon is known in Highland Chiapas as h'ik'al, the Black-man. Although h'ik'al's prototype may have been the bat deity, an ancient Maya god of sacrifice, the demon has been adapted to contemporary life. Sarah Blaffer analyzes the position of anomalies in societies and shows h'ik'al as a norm-offending, yet norm-reinforcing, specter, who by his character and actions demonstrates the proper sex roles for Zinacantec men and women. The data for the study was recorded in Zinacantan, a Tzotzil-speaking Maya community, and in other Maya towns in southern Mexico and Guatemala; the study includes an analysis of tales recorded and translated by Robert M. Laughlin. The drawings that decorate the text were adapted by Virginia Savage and Joseph Barbieri. Besides being a comprehensive treatment of Maya demonology, the book demonstrates the newer approaches in comparative mythology of Claude Lévi-Strauss and others.
The Black-man of Zinacantan, a Central American Legend
Author: Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226
Book Description
Chronicling Cultures
Author: Robert V. Kemper
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
ISBN: 9780759101944
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 400
Book Description
Description of methods used in long-term anthropological field projects, some extending over half a century. Visit our website for sample chapters!
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
ISBN: 9780759101944
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 400
Book Description
Description of methods used in long-term anthropological field projects, some extending over half a century. Visit our website for sample chapters!
Ritual Humor in Highland Chiapas
Author: Victoria Reifler Bricker
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292791763
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Book Description
Zinacantan, Chamula, and Chenalhó are neighboring Mayan communities situated in highland Chiapas, Mexico, near the city of San Cristóbal Las Casas. The inhabitants of the three communities speak dialects of the Tzotzil language. Five religious fiestas, celebrated by these communities in honor of their saints, provide the data for Victoria Bricker's comparative study of ritual humor. In Chenalhó and Chamula performances of ritual humor are concentrated in the five-day period of a single fiesta, while in Zanacantan similar performances are distributed over threee fiestas. In these fiesta settings, performers in distinctive costumes make obscene and sacreligious remarks in the context of religious ritual. These performances are defined as ritual humor because they occur only in ritual settings. Bricker's study constitutes a controlled cross-cultural comparison of ceremonial or ritual humor in its social and cultural setting. Much new information is provided in verbatim texts, recorded during actual fiesta performances. The study reveals that, although the three communities share a common pool of ritual symbols, they elaborate them differently in ritual humor. The study analyzes the symbolic expression of values, social organization, and interethnic relations.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292791763
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Book Description
Zinacantan, Chamula, and Chenalhó are neighboring Mayan communities situated in highland Chiapas, Mexico, near the city of San Cristóbal Las Casas. The inhabitants of the three communities speak dialects of the Tzotzil language. Five religious fiestas, celebrated by these communities in honor of their saints, provide the data for Victoria Bricker's comparative study of ritual humor. In Chenalhó and Chamula performances of ritual humor are concentrated in the five-day period of a single fiesta, while in Zanacantan similar performances are distributed over threee fiestas. In these fiesta settings, performers in distinctive costumes make obscene and sacreligious remarks in the context of religious ritual. These performances are defined as ritual humor because they occur only in ritual settings. Bricker's study constitutes a controlled cross-cultural comparison of ceremonial or ritual humor in its social and cultural setting. Much new information is provided in verbatim texts, recorded during actual fiesta performances. The study reveals that, although the three communities share a common pool of ritual symbols, they elaborate them differently in ritual humor. The study analyzes the symbolic expression of values, social organization, and interethnic relations.
Negotiating Performance
Author: Diana Taylor
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822315155
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
In Negotiating Performance, major scholars and practitioners of the theatrical arts consider the diversity of Latin American and U. S. Latino performance: indigenous theater, performance art, living installations, carnival, public demonstrations, and gender acts such as transvestism. By redefining performance to include such events as Mayan and AIDS theater, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and Argentinean drag culture, this energetic volume discusses the dynamics of Latino/a identity politics and the sometimes discordant intersection of gender, sexuality, and nationalisms. The Latin/o America examined here stretches from Patagonia to New York City, bridging the political and geographical divides between U.S. Latinos and Latin Americans. Moving from Nuyorican casitas in the South Bronx, to subversive street performances in Buenos Aires, to border art from San Diego/Tijuana, this volume negotiates the borders that bring Americans together and keep them apart, while at the same time debating the use of the contested term "Latino/a." In the emerging dialogue, contributors reenvision an inclusive "América," a Latin/o America that does not pit nationality against ethnicity--in other words, a shared space, and a home to all Latin/o Americans. Negotiating Performance opens up the field of Latin/o American theater and performance criticism by looking at performance work by Mayans, women, gays, lesbians, and other marginalized groups. In so doing, this volume will interest a wide audience of students and scholars in feminist and gender studies, theater and performance studies, and Latin American and Latino cultural studies. Contributors. Judith Bettelheim, Sue-Ellen Case, Juan Flores, Jean Franco, Donald H. Frischmann, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Jorge Huerta, Tiffany Ana López, Jacqueline Lazú, María Teresa Marrero, Cherríe Moraga, Kirsten F. Nigro, Patrick O'Connor, Jorge Salessi, Alberto Sandoval, Cynthia Steele, Diana Taylor, Juan Villegas, Marguerite Waller
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 9780822315155
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 372
Book Description
In Negotiating Performance, major scholars and practitioners of the theatrical arts consider the diversity of Latin American and U. S. Latino performance: indigenous theater, performance art, living installations, carnival, public demonstrations, and gender acts such as transvestism. By redefining performance to include such events as Mayan and AIDS theater, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and Argentinean drag culture, this energetic volume discusses the dynamics of Latino/a identity politics and the sometimes discordant intersection of gender, sexuality, and nationalisms. The Latin/o America examined here stretches from Patagonia to New York City, bridging the political and geographical divides between U.S. Latinos and Latin Americans. Moving from Nuyorican casitas in the South Bronx, to subversive street performances in Buenos Aires, to border art from San Diego/Tijuana, this volume negotiates the borders that bring Americans together and keep them apart, while at the same time debating the use of the contested term "Latino/a." In the emerging dialogue, contributors reenvision an inclusive "América," a Latin/o America that does not pit nationality against ethnicity--in other words, a shared space, and a home to all Latin/o Americans. Negotiating Performance opens up the field of Latin/o American theater and performance criticism by looking at performance work by Mayans, women, gays, lesbians, and other marginalized groups. In so doing, this volume will interest a wide audience of students and scholars in feminist and gender studies, theater and performance studies, and Latin American and Latino cultural studies. Contributors. Judith Bettelheim, Sue-Ellen Case, Juan Flores, Jean Franco, Donald H. Frischmann, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Jorge Huerta, Tiffany Ana López, Jacqueline Lazú, María Teresa Marrero, Cherríe Moraga, Kirsten F. Nigro, Patrick O'Connor, Jorge Salessi, Alberto Sandoval, Cynthia Steele, Diana Taylor, Juan Villegas, Marguerite Waller
Routledge Library Editions: Rural History
Author: Various
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351624814
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 4340
Book Description
The volumes in this set, originally published between 1969 and 1990, draw together research by leading academics in the area of the rural history and provide an examination of related key issues. The volumes examine social change in rural communities approaching the industrial revolution, whilst also providing an overview of the history of rural populations in England, France, Germany, Mexico and the United States. This set will be of particular interest to students of history, business and economics.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351624814
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 4340
Book Description
The volumes in this set, originally published between 1969 and 1990, draw together research by leading academics in the area of the rural history and provide an examination of related key issues. The volumes examine social change in rural communities approaching the industrial revolution, whilst also providing an overview of the history of rural populations in England, France, Germany, Mexico and the United States. This set will be of particular interest to students of history, business and economics.
Anthropological Perspectives on Rural Mexico
Author: Cynthia Hewitt de Alcántara
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351722719
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
In this title, first published in 1984, the author examines the social and political forces surrounding the practice of anthropology at different periods in the history of Mexico since 1917. She does this by analysing and tracing the development of competing anthropological perspectives, from ethnographic particularism and functionalism through indigenismo, cultural ecology, Marxism and the dependency paradigm, to the historical structuralism of the 1970s. This book provides the basis for a systematic analysis of peasant studies in Mexico, and discusses in stimulating terms the theoretical and empirical difficulties of the profession of anthropology itself.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351722719
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241
Book Description
In this title, first published in 1984, the author examines the social and political forces surrounding the practice of anthropology at different periods in the history of Mexico since 1917. She does this by analysing and tracing the development of competing anthropological perspectives, from ethnographic particularism and functionalism through indigenismo, cultural ecology, Marxism and the dependency paradigm, to the historical structuralism of the 1970s. This book provides the basis for a systematic analysis of peasant studies in Mexico, and discusses in stimulating terms the theoretical and empirical difficulties of the profession of anthropology itself.
Reinventing The Future
Author: Thomas A. Bass
Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
ISBN: 9780201626421
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
The author of The Eudaemonic Pie now reveals the inspiration, motivations, and aspirations of the world's greatest scientists. The scientists interviewed in this collection have changed the rules of the game--altered our perception of reality and the language used to describe it.
Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
ISBN: 9780201626421
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
The author of The Eudaemonic Pie now reveals the inspiration, motivations, and aspirations of the world's greatest scientists. The scientists interviewed in this collection have changed the rules of the game--altered our perception of reality and the language used to describe it.
Currents in Anthropology
Author: Robert Hinshaw
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 311080929X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 589
Book Description
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 311080929X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 589
Book Description
Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 3
Author: Victoria Reifler Bricker
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292791747
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
The sixteen-volume Handbook of Middle American Indians, completed in 1976, has been acclaimed the world over as the single most valuable resource ever produced for those involved in the study of Mesoamerica. When it was determined in 1978 that the Handbook should be updated periodically, Victoria Reifler Bricker, well-known cultural anthropologist, was elected to be general editor. This third volume of the Supplement is devoted to the aboriginal literatures of Mesoamerica, a topic receiving little attention in the original Handbook. According to the general editor, "This volume does more than supplement and update the coverage of Middle American Indian literatures in the Handbook. It breaks new ground by defining the parameters of a new interdisciplinary field in Middle American Indian studies." The aim of the present volume is to consider literature from five Middle American Indian languages: Nahuatl, Yucatecan Maya, Quiche, Tzotzil, and Chorti. The first three literatures are well documented for both the Classical and Modern variants of their languages and are obvious candidates for inclusion in this volume. The literatures of Tzotzil and Chorti, on the other hand, are oral, and heretofore little has been written of their genres and styles. Taken together, these essays represent a substantial contribution to the Handbook series, with the volume editor's introduction placing in geographic perspective the five literatures chosen as representative of the Middle American literary tradition.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292791747
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208
Book Description
The sixteen-volume Handbook of Middle American Indians, completed in 1976, has been acclaimed the world over as the single most valuable resource ever produced for those involved in the study of Mesoamerica. When it was determined in 1978 that the Handbook should be updated periodically, Victoria Reifler Bricker, well-known cultural anthropologist, was elected to be general editor. This third volume of the Supplement is devoted to the aboriginal literatures of Mesoamerica, a topic receiving little attention in the original Handbook. According to the general editor, "This volume does more than supplement and update the coverage of Middle American Indian literatures in the Handbook. It breaks new ground by defining the parameters of a new interdisciplinary field in Middle American Indian studies." The aim of the present volume is to consider literature from five Middle American Indian languages: Nahuatl, Yucatecan Maya, Quiche, Tzotzil, and Chorti. The first three literatures are well documented for both the Classical and Modern variants of their languages and are obvious candidates for inclusion in this volume. The literatures of Tzotzil and Chorti, on the other hand, are oral, and heretofore little has been written of their genres and styles. Taken together, these essays represent a substantial contribution to the Handbook series, with the volume editor's introduction placing in geographic perspective the five literatures chosen as representative of the Middle American literary tradition.